Growth of Oklahoma’s prison population slows

The gate to the Oklahoma State Penitentiary in McAlester. (File photo by Jay Chilton)

OKLAHOMA CITY – Oklahoma’s notoriously full prisons haven’t seen population decreases in the past year, but they haven’t seen much growth either.

Oklahoma has been the top incarcerator of women since the 1990s, and it surpassed Louisiana for the nation’s highest overall incarceration rate this year. The Department of Corrections will discuss prison population and trends in its changes over the past year during its board meeting on Thursday.

The overall incarcerated population as of Oct. 31 has increased less than 1 percent year over year, from 27,033 people to 27,245 people, according to information the department released for the meeting.

Criminal justice reform has come to the forefront of Oklahoma politics. The issue has become bipartisan, garnering support from some of the most conservative and most liberal officials in the state. Department of Corrections Director Joe Allbaugh has warned that without curtailing the population and investing in infrastructure, the system is on the brink of disaster.

Oklahomans passed two state questions that make certain low-level drug and property offenses misdemeanors in an attempt to reduce admissions to prison. House Majority Floor Leader Jon Echols has expressed interest in legislation that would make those provisions retroactive.

Other statistics included in the report show what percentage of people are in state versus contract prisons. About 20,000 people, or 74 percent, are in state facilities. Nearly 6,000, or 22 percent, are in private prisons. About 1,000 are in halfway houses, and the remaining 12 are in county jails.

The overall population, including state and private prisons, is at 108 percent of its capacity. The system accounts for these people by placing temporary beds in prisons.

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